Scented wax, or more particularly, scented wax potpourri, is a popular product used to impart a fragrance into a space such as a room. Unlike a traditional candle, scented wax potpourri has no embedded wick, and the scented wax is not consumed during use. Scented wax potpourri functions by imparting scent while it is in a liquid phase for a period of time caused by use of a burner. During the liquid phase, volatile and semi-volatile fragrance components are released into the air from the melted wax.
An example of a scented wax potpourri is Almond Cookie Tarts® Wax Potpourri with a net weight of 22 grams, sold under item #1163579, by the Yankee Candle Company, 16 Yankee Candle Way, South Deerfield, Mass. 01373.
Scented wax potpourri is used in a device that has the ability to heat the wax potpourri, Such devices may be electrically heated or flame heated by a tealight candle. An example of an electric unit is the Everyday Ceramic Tarts® Wax Potpourri Warmer Item #1228663 sold by the Yankee Candle Company, 16 Yankee Candle Way, South Deerfield, Mass. 01373. An example of a tealight burner is the Amber Mosaic Tarts® Wax Potpourri Warmer Item #1226799 sold by the Yankee Candle Company, 16 Yankee Candle Way, South Deerfield, Mass. 01373.
A typical wax potpourri burner 10 is shown in FIG. 1. The burner 10 includes a tealight 12 which produces heat through a flame 14 which heat passes through tealight opening 16. Heat travels in an upward direction through the burner 10 toward the wax potpourri reservoir 18 where the heat is transferred from the flame to the heat transfer zone 22 to melt the scented wax in wax potpourri melting zone 20. Vent holes 24 are also typically provided.
Wax potpourri burners vary in composition, construction, and size. A typical burner can hold up to 50 g of scented wax potpourri and may be made of glass or ceramic and be constructed in a variety of shapes. Melting of the scented wax potpourri results in active fragrance release for up to 10 hours at which time the fragrance strength weakens. Scented wax potpourri's end of life is determined by the weakening of scent release. The spent scented wax potpourri is left to solidify and subsequently removed from the burner to make room for new scented wax potpourri.
The removal of the spent scented wax potpourri presents challenges to the end user. The solidified scented wax potpourri can adhere to the burner making removal difficult. A popular method of removal entails the placement of the burner in a household freezer. The scented wax potpourri undergoes contraction with a drop in temperature causing the release from the burner. This practice requires extra handling and can be overly cumbersome, especially with electric burners. The electrical cord must either be placed into the freezer with the wax potpourri burner or left to hang outside the freezer. The method also prevents immediate reuse of the burner because it must be chilled to remove the older wax before new wax could be used.
Yet another popular method used to remove the spent scented wax potpourri is to add warm water to the melted scented wax potpourri while in use. The water, being both immiscible and denser than liquefied scented wax potpourri, sinks to the bottom of the wax potpourri burner where it forms a limited barrier between the liquefied scented wax potpourri and burner, preventing to some degree, wax adhesion. This practice is ill advised as it can result in hot spilled wax caused by overfilling the burner. Additionally, adhesion can not be completely eliminated due to the limited coverage the water provides.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to the end user to be able to easily remove the spent scented wax potpourri at room temperature, thus mitigating the risks associated with the wax removal methods described above. If possible, room temperature removal would be achievable without the use of extraneous tools or devices. Furthermore, such an invention would be transparent to the end-user who would realize the benefit without noticing any change in the wax potpourri.